I'll Stand By You (Whether You Like it or Not)
by karjens44
Summary: Regina finds support from an unexpected source. (Unbeta'd)
1. Chapter 1

I'll Stand By You (Whether you Like it or Not)

Fandom: OUAT

Pairing: Red Queen (Regina X Ruby) this means F/F.

Spoilers: Cricket Game and the Outsiders in particular.

A/N 1 Well, this started out headed one way. It was going to be a nice fluffy little piece of Red Queen, but after the last few episodes, it has taken a definite turn for the different. This is ultimately Red Queen.

A/N 2 I had to deviate greatly from certain aspects of the Outsiders, particularly the 'Archie's alive' scene in order to fit what I had already written and then it goes somewhat AU from there because damnit Regina needs one minute of happiness. The characters will probably be OOC but I'm channeling a lot of my current personal feelings about the characters and the show right now. Lastly, Cora will NOT appear in this story because if I brought her in, this would turn out to be way longer and more complicated than I have the sanity for. I apologize in advance. I just wanted to write a story where Regina finally gets the one thing she's been lacking for so long…unwavering support.

A/N 3 My intentions at this time are that this is my last fan fiction. (Again). So…let me just say thank you for all who've been so wonderful with my previous offerings, especially with Red Queen Tale and the very kind words about my writing style. (Now, should the writers give up some lovely Red Queen (RegalWolf) goodness in future episodes, perhaps this may change.

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Ruby Lucas sighed with a sad sort of sympathy as she observed Pongo walking listlessly beside her. After Archie's death, she had volunteered to take the dog who was obviously traumatized by what had happened. She did what she could to help him but knew that Pongo was still grieving for Archie.

After a day of moping, she had finally decided to take him for a walk, hoping he'd find a bird to chase or something to bring the light back into his sweet eyes. He had merely walked beside her not taking interest in anything.

Ruby was about to turn around and take him home when he started to growl. She looked, surprise to see Regina, the woman accused of killing Archie Hopper walking in their direction.

"Well isn't this interesting. A wolf taking a Dalmatian for a walk," Regina greeted with the patented smirk that always seemed to be present on the unfairly beautiful face.

.

Ruby suddenly remembered Regina's 'take yourself for a walk' comment from before and it still irritated her. Everything about the former Mayor irritated her…among other things.

"Shouldn't you be in prison?" she retorted, feeling Pongo tugging at the leash and tempted to let him go.

"Probably," Regina said pleasantly, "but not for killing Archie." Regina looks down and calmly meets the growling Pongo's gaze. After long second, the growls stopped and Pongo cocked his head as he studied Regina.

"What did you do to him?" Ruby glared, loosening her grip on the leash.

"Oh for…I didn't do anything," she said with exasperation. To both women's surprise, Pongo carefully approached Regina sniffing her jacket then the hand the former Mayor held perfectly still. After a long moment, he let out a whine, licked Regina's fingers and sat down beside her.

Forgetting Ruby was watching, Regina smiled gently at the now friendly Dalmatian and stroked his head softly as he sat calmly beside her.

"Okay, so that's weird," Ruby muttered thoughtfully before kneeling down and placing her hand on Pongo's face and 'talking' to him.

"Right, and that's perfectly normal," Regina replied sarcastically, watching the silent communication.

"Your scent is wrong," Ruby stated getting to her feet.

"Excuse me?" Regina glowered at the younger woman.

"Oh please," Ruby snorted even as she rolled her eyes. "A dog's senses are far better than humans. The 'you' that killed Archie smelled different. Pongo recognized your face, but not your scent."

"Perhaps I used a different soap," Regina replied offhandedly.

"No. That's not it." Then to Regina's shock, Ruby stepped into her personal space and lowered her nose into her neck, sniffing deliberately.

"Miss Lucas," Regina protested, stepping away even as she felt a not particularly welcome flutter in her stomach.

"Sorry," Ruby said, not the least bit apologetic. She discovered she enjoyed throwing the uptight woman into a tizzy. She'd have to do it again.

"Would you care to explain yourself?" Regina crossed her arms over her chest and glared daggers at the brazen waitress

"Just curious," Ruby said with a shrug, though the growing smile gave away her amusement.

"Well Miss Lucas, in the future, I'd strongly advise you to find another method of satisfying your curiosity."

"I'll remind you of that invitation later," Ruby said with a smirk before turning thoughtful once more. "I saw you go to Archie's office the night he died," she stated. "There was no question in my mind it was you."

"Yes, so I was informed," Regina retorted just as blandly.

"It wasn't you," Ruby replied, somewhat pleased by the way she'd wiped the arrogant smirk off the woman's face.

Regina hadn't expected that and was unable to hide the surprise she felt before forcing the mask of indifference back into place. "And you reached that conclusion based on my smell?" She asked with a skeptical smirk.

"Yes and when Emma and I found Archie there was a distinct scent and it wasn't yours. Plus there is the fact that while you're painfully rude," she grinned at the death glare she received, "you're not a stupid woman. You know everything that goes on in this town, which means you know what time Granny's closes and that every night I go outside to get the sign. So why would you choose that particular time to go to your potential victim's office knowing I would most likely see you?"

"Perhaps because I don't care what you think?" Regina didn't even try to hide her sarcasm, though Ruby was right. Pity the town's Sheriff couldn't figure that out for herself.

Ruby was torn between laughing at Regina's absolute unwillingness to show any vulnerability and shaking some sense into the frustrating woman. "It just seems to me," she continued, choosing to ignore her sarcasm, "that every piece of evidence Emma has points to either the most pathetic criminal ever or to someone who wanted to be caught. You are anything but pathetic and no offense, but if you wanted to kill someone, part of the fun for you would be making Emma and David work to prove it."

Regina was floundering and she didn't like it one bit. "Miss Lucas, I don't know what game you're playing but…"

Ruby studied Regina closely. "For someone who claims to be innocent, you sure are determined to convince the one person who believes you that you did it."

"There are precisely two people in this town I thought would possibly believe me, but they didn't." Regina sounded casual as if she were merely talking about the weather, but the pain in her eyes was blatant.

"Regina," Ruby began sympathetically, knowing that one of those two people was Henry.

Regina held up a hand, not needing nor wanting sympathy. "You, on the other hand, have no reason to believe anything I say, yet you stand there declaring I'm innocent based on your olfactory senses and a psychic chat with a dog?"

"It would seem so," Ruby smirked, almost giddy over having the upper hand with this woman for once and finding the bemused and utterly confounded expression on the usually impassive face, inappropriately adorable.

"Why?"

Ruby should have expected the suspicious question but despite her little epiphany, she wasn't about to roll over for Regina. "Beats the hell out of me," she admitted smugly.

Regina's lips twitched at the blunt honesty. That was one of things she'd always privately admired about the clothes-fearing waitress.

"That's quite helpful," she retorted. A wet nose nudged her hand and she looked down, her lips lifting in a genuine smile as Pongo apparently got tired of being ignored.

Ruby was surprised to say the least to watch the previously lethargic dog prodding the ice cold former Mayor for attention and actually receiving it. "He likes you," she stated with amazement.

"I'm a likeable woman," Regina commented as she scratched Pongo's ears. Ruby's light laugh rang pleasantly in her ears but even though her lips twitched, she chose to ignore it.

Ruby noticed the hint of amusement in Regina's face and her heart fluttered at the sight. "Dogs are very good judges of character," Ruby replied instead. "They can sense evil and don't take kindly to it."

Regina turned her attention to the strange woman thinking she would have been less surprised had Grumpy stood in the middle of Main Street and declared his undying love for her. "And what about wolves Miss Lucas?"

Ruby refused to rise to the aggravating woman's bait. "Well, I am mostly human but I think my senses are sharper than other peoples."

"And you don't detect my… evilness? That's a dangerous mistake Miss Lucas."

Regina was full out mocking her now and though it irritated Ruby to be made fun of, she had a pretty good idea what was driving the other woman.

"Oh you're a definite badass Regina. I don't need special senses to pick that up," Ruby acknowledged as she ran her eyes over the older woman who wore sensuality like a second skin. "That just makes you hot, not evil," she added with leer that was only partially teasing.

Regina was not unaccustomed to being ogled. Most of the time she ignored it unless it suited her purposes, but the slow perusal Ruby 'Red' Lucas had just given her was a distinctly unique and not particularly unwelcome experience. Not that she'd let the already cocky woman know that.

"That's good to know," she replied casually.

Ruby shook her head thinking rather unexpectedly that being with Regina Mills would never get boring. Unfortunately, there were more important things that needed to be resolved before their odd little game could continue. Which it would, if she had anything to say about it.

"Look Regina, we could stand here and play all day, and as much fun as that would probably be, we need to get started on finding who framed you."

"How?" Regina asked fighting to contain the anxiousness she had been bottling up. "The Sherriff and her disgustingly doting parents have already convicted me and stripped me of my son." She struggled not to remember the painful encounter with Emma Swan. "And maybe I'm simply not interested in fighting anymore."

"You and I both know that's a lie," Ruby replied brazenly, though part of her could sense that it wouldn't take much more for Regina to get to that point. She looked at the Dalmatian who was now sitting so close to Regina he was practically leaning on her, "Pongo believes in you and so do I," she announced. "And since we both got you into this mess to begin with, we're going to get you out of it, whether you like it or not. Now, I know you're into the whole privacy thing, but tell me what you were arguing with Archie about."

"Are you serious?" Emma Swan looked at her friend wondering if she'd lost her mind.

"Very." Ruby didn't like the expression on Emma's face. It was an expression that said she had made up her mind and wasn't about to change it.

"Wait a minute," David interrupted, "Ruby, you know Regina is a fugitive. If you saw her you should have brought her in."

Ruby met David's eyes unwaveringly. "If I thought she would have been treated fairly, I would have."

"How can you say that?" Snow asked, sincerely hurt by the way her best friend was siding with the woman who'd made her life miserable.

"Because I've seen how you're treating her already. You had her convicted even before you even saw Pongo's memories. Hell Emma, you yourself told me what happened when you went to arrest her."

"So because Pongo 'told' you that Regina's scent was different from the night she'd killed Archie, you no longer believe she's guilty? Every piece of evidence we have points to Regina."

"What evidence?" Ruby pushed, aware of Henry listening with Pongo in the next room. "You have me saying that I saw Regina arguing with him, which doesn't prove anything. Hell, you and she have had plenty of knock down drag outs and you're still alive."

"She tried to kill me once," Emma reminded the other woman angrily, "and nearly killed Henry instead."

"She didn't try to kill you. It was a sleeping spell. If she wanted you dead, you would be."

"That's hardly an advertisement for her innocence," Snow interjected before Emma could say something she'd regret.

"Plus she's already broken her promise not to use magic," Henry spoke up from where he'd been playing with Pongo. "That proves she lies."

Ruby was unbelievably relieved Regina wasn't present to hear that. "Yeah, but that was to help people Henry," Ruby reminded the boy kindly. "Especially Emma and Snow."

"That's what she says," Henry muttered.

Ruby sighed. Apparently, stubbornness ran in the family and she was saddened and somewhat angered by his indifference to the woman who'd done nothing but love him. She turned her attention back to the adults who should know that things weren't always black and white.

"Look, I'm not excusing what she's done in the past," she told them, "but you've declared Regina guilty with very little proof. All your evidence is based on what I saw which is hardly conclusive and a brief memory pulled from Pongo. Have you done anything to verify what you saw? Have you tried using that dream thingy on Regina?"

Emma's stomach knotted at the realization that she hadn't. She honestly hadn't even thought about it. Still she refused to second-guess herself. If she was wrong, that made her…she shook her head. "No I haven't," she answered defensively, "but hell Ruby, she could just manipulate her memories to show us what she wants to."'

"Seriously Emma?" Ruby shook her head, hearing the doubt in Emma's voice and surprised that the one truly open-minded person in Storybrooke had succumbed to the same 'rush to judgment' attitude of everyone else in town.

"Ruby, we appreciate your playing devil's advocate here," David said with a condescension that had the waitress gritting teeth, "but if you don't have anything more concrete…

"That's the point David. I don't have anything concrete and neither do you and I'm not going to let you use my words to railroad an innocent woman," Ruby insisted angrily. "Yes. I did see Regina and Archie arguing, in public I might add where plenty of other people could see it, but from what Regina told me, her anger was justified. He broke her trust by telling you things he had no business telling. I would have chewed his ass out too."

"Which gives her a motive," Emma argued, ignoring her own guilt. She still remembered the night of the welcome home party. She remembered how open Regina had been when Emma had followed her outside to try and convince the skittish woman to stay. Unfortunately, she had admitted that it was only Archie's comments about their sessions that made her extend the invitation in the first place and Regina had shut down after that. Not the wisest thing she'd ever done, she admitted.

"Oh come on Emma," Ruby said with exasperation. "Yes Regina was mad…okay she was furious, but it wasn't as if she were threatening him. In fact, I also heard her tell him to be thankful she'd changed right before she walked away. This is the infamous Evil Queen we're talking about. If she were truly angry enough to kill him, she would have done it right there and not have been the least bit ashamed of it."

Emma couldn't disagree with that, but she wasn't going to relent. Not this time. "You saw her go to Archie's the night he was killed."

"Did I?"

"That's what you said," Emma argued. "Are you now saying it wasn't her?" She wondered if Regina had somehow managed to take Ruby's heart and was controlling her.

"No," Ruby drawled with waning patience, "I'm saying that it could have easily been someone trying to make me think it was her."

"What would make you change your mind Ruby? It couldn't have just been her smell" Snow interrupted, hoping the two friends weren't about to come to blows. Especially over Regina Mills.

"Well, you yourself told me that after you went to arrest Regina, she used magic to vanish right?"

"Yeah," Emma still felt a little guilty about what she had said to Regina just before she disappeared. The wounded look on the former Mayor's face when Emma had told her that she'd never change, still haunted her.

"Well it seems to me that if Regina was going to murder Archie, she would have just…poofed herself into his office instead of making sure she was in a position to be seen by anyone who happened to be leaving Granny's. Regina is a lot of things but stupid is not one of them."

"That's true," Emma acknowledged. That was the main reason she'd believed Regina at first. No matter what schemes she was carrying out, Regina Mills was not careless. The knot in her stomach turned to nausea as she finally began to realize she might have made an enormous mistake.

"And what about the fact that Pongo is still alive?" Ruby pushed, seeing that the Sheriff was finally starting to see the light. "That's pretty telling isn't it?"

"Not really," Henry answered. "Regina wouldn't care about a dog."

"You're actually wrong about that Henry," Ruby said, finding herself offended on Regina's behalf. "She's actually very good with him and he loves her, which totally contradicts what that dream catcher showed you."

"No it really doesn't," Emma replied shortly.

"Look, I know it's impossible to ignore what you saw but If she was the murdering bitch you say she is, she would have killed Pongo too, if for no other reason than to add to the pain. Whoever killed Archie wanted Pongo alive."

"That's a pretty good stretch," David replied skeptically.

"So is the so-called evidence you have against her." Ruby argued. "I have more evidence providing reasonable doubt than you do to convict her."

"You're forgetting that her file was empty, which proves she was there and that she was hiding something," David reminded her. "What was in them that she didn't want us to see?"

"How does an empty file prove anything?" Ruby exclaimed. "All that tells me is either Regina took the papers but was stupid enough to leave the file with her name on it for you to conveniently discover, or there never were any papers in it to begin with. Does she really seem like the type of woman who would allow anyone to take notes of her private conversations?"

"No," Snow admitted reluctantly. "No she doesn't. None of this seems like Regina."

"Have you forgotten about Graham?" Emma argued, still not willing to admit she'd made a horrible, horrible mistake. "She killed him."

"Did she?" Ruby questioned.

"Oh come on Ruby, we all know she did, even if there isn't any proof." Emma paused and then closed her eyes as the reality finally hit her. While the images she'd seen from Pongo clearly showed Regina Mills killing Archie Hopper, she should have known….should have been open to the possibility that it wasn't that simple. Nothing in this damned town was ever as simple as it appeared.

"Let me ask you something," Ruby said gently seeing that Emma was finally beginning to understand. "How much effort have you really put into looking at other options?"

"I believed her at first," Emma said growing defensive. "I was the only one who did."

"Really? If you did truly believe her then it should have taken more than just a dog's memories to completely change your mind," Ruby stated.

"She's evil Ruby," Henry protested. This is what she does."

"Oh Henry," the waitress said sadly, her heart hurting as she imagined Regina hearing those words. The woman had an impeccable poker face until Henry did or say something to hurt her.

"Okay let's say I believe you, which I don't," David said firmly, "we don't have to wonder who would want to frame her, which would be everyone in town. The question is who would have the ability to make themselves look like her? Ruby, you're the only Shapeshifter we've encountered."

Just then, the door to the Sherriff's office opened and the man they'd recently buried came strolling in, drawing gasps from Ruby, David and Snow and an expression of dismay from Emma.

"What the…Archie? What happened?"

Emma stood back as Snow and David embraced their friend.

"It was Cora," Archie said with relief as he wrapped an excited Henry in his arms. "She kidnapped me."

Emma felt physically sick and her knees threatened to give out under her as she was forced to confront the biggest mistake she'd ever made. The image of Regina actually strangling Archie had been so compelling and ridiculously easy to believe. That alone should have told her that something was off. Regina would not have looked so expressionless if she was extracting revenge. She would have been taunting him almost playfully about his grave mistakes. God. Emma felt tears sting her eyes at the realization that for all her 'noble' posturing while defending Regina, she had leapt at the first thing that looked remotely conclusive and turned on her. Even worse, she did the very thing she'd promised Regina from the very beginning that she had no intention of doing. Taking Henry.

"We were wrong," she murmured blankly. "I was wrong. Regina didn't do it." Emma cringed as she relived every cruel and hateful word she'd thrown at a woman who'd been trying so hard to redeem herself.

"I knew it!" Henry exclaimed happily. "We should probably let her know."

Ruby sighed. Only the fact that he was just a kid, a kid she cared a lot about kept Ruby from reminding Henry of the very hateful words he'd just said about Regina.

"I'll go," Ruby said quickly. "I'm fairly sure that she won't be up to talking to any of you right now." With a final hug to Archie, Ruby left, hoping that the woman who was not known for forgiveness, hadn't already done something stupid.


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2

A/N: Sorry that this is so short, but it seemed like a good place to break before Part 3.

Regina grinned as she took a sip of her wine and listened to the frantic knocking on her front door. Really, for someone who claimed to be so adept at tracking people down, it had taken Emma Swan a pathetically long time to realize Regina would be in her own home instead of out hiding like a coward.

Still, she wasn't about to make it easy for the Sheriff. Having Emma all but tell her that no matter how hard she tried she'd always be evil and that she'd never see Henry again was very nearly the final straw and Regina had spent the last several hours debating the very tempting merits of giving Emma Swan and the entire town the Evil Queen they believed her to be.

Perversely, the one thing that kept her from leveling the entire damned town wasn't the thought of Henry. Regina had finally forced herself to realize that no matter what she did, he would never truly believe in her. Emma Swan had seen to that. No, It was remembering the show of faith coming from the one person who had every reason to believe she was guilty that had her loosening her grip on the dark magic that flowed so close to the surface.

The loud knocking continued and Regina gritted her teeth and got to her feet, prepared to tell the Sheriff just what she could do with her empty threats of arrest.

"Look Sheriff, I…Ruby?" Regina took in the unusually frazzled young woman who she'd just been thinking about. "Let me guess, the town has formed another lynch mob and you're the sacrificial wolf?" Regina quipped sarcastically.

Ruby's heart hurt as she saw the badly disguised signs that the formidable woman had recently been crying and she silently berated her closest friends. Deciding the best way to distract the former Mayor from her dark thoughts (not to mention the most entertaining) was to shock her out of it, Ruby grinned broadly and knowing she was risking every bone in her body, she pulled the shocked Regina into a crushing hug.

"Miss Lucas…Ruby!" Regina protested awkwardly.

"He's alive," Ruby whispered into Regina's ear, trying not to lose herself in the unique scent that was purely Regina Mills.

"What?" Regina managed to mutter. The shock of being accosted by Ruby Lucas had been quickly brushed aside by the feel of the long slender body holding hers and the hot breath tickling her ear.

"Archie is alive!" Still giddy with relief and joy at knowing her old friend hadn't been killed and that Regina was finally cleared, Ruby tightened her hold.

Regina's struggles stopped as Ruby's words sank in. "What do you mean he's alive? And if you could stop suffocating me, I would quite appreciate it."

Ruby loosened her hold but didn't step away. "I was over at Mary…Snow and David's and telling them what I suspected and Archie just…showed up."

"I don't understand."

Ruby smiled at the befuddled woman and reached up to cup her face. "Archie wasn't killed. Your mother kidnapped him. She was the one behind it all."

"My mother?" Regina's heart stopped knowing that the woman she loved, hated and feared more than any other person in the world had finally found her.

Ruby was startled by the fear that flashed in Regina's eyes. She'd never seen Regina Mills afraid of anything that didn't concern Henry and that alone was enough to worry Ruby. "Yeah."

"You need to tell Emma to get Henry out of Storybrooke. Now." Regina pulled away and headed into the house, her mind working furiously to figure out what to do and how to protect the one thing in the world that mattered to her.

"Regina, wait," Ruby followed Regina into the house, seeing how agitated she was despite the failing attempt at indifference.

"You're still here?" Regina asked coldly. "Forget about me. You need to protect Henry. He's the only thing that matters and if my mother finds him…"

"That won't happen," Ruby said stepping into Regina's face. "Emma, Mary Margaret and David know she's here and they will protect him with their lives. You need someone to protect you."

Regina ran her eyes over the slender girl in front of her and while she couldn't help but be impressed by the determination in the pretty dark eyes, she had to laugh. "Miss Lucas, I assure you that I am able of dealing with my mother on my own."

"I'm sure you are, but you're not going to. No matter how much you make fun of me," Ruby said firmly, crossing her arms trying not to feel hurt as Regina laughed at her.

Regina saw the hurt in Ruby's expression and really wanted to use that to send her away for good. It was for the best, but she simply couldn't find the cutting words to do it.

"I'm not making fun of you Miss…Ruby," She admitted more kindly than she normally would have. "I do appreciate your offer. More than you know, but you forget that I have powers that you don't. And even though you are quite formidable as a wolf, you're no match for my mother."

"So?"

Regina grinned. Yes, she decided she really did like this woman who obviously had more bravado than sense, but then her smile faded. She wasn't going to let someone else pay the price for standing by her.

"So, my mother will turn you into a chew toy before you can so much as blink. That's not much protection," she said bluntly.

"Regina, I know what you're doing and it's not going to work," Ruby stated just as bluntly. "I know that in a fight, I can't really do much against your mother, but that isn't the point. Whether you believe me or not, I want to show you that there is someone who is willing to stand with you, no matter what the evidence says. Someone who isn't trying to manipulate you. I suspect you've never really had that before."

Once again, Regina was struck speechless by the waitress she barely knew. Why this woman, the best friend of the woman who'd played a major role in destroying her world, was willing to risk her own life to support her, Regina would never understand.

"What if I don't want your support?" she asked as haughtily as her weakening pride would allow.

Ruby just offered the cheekiest grin she could manage, trying not to laugh at Regina's frustrated expression. "I've never been one to let a little thing like that stop me."

Against her will, Regina's lips twitched with true amusement. "No, I'm sure you're not."

"I know you're going to do everything in your power, metaphorically I hope, to drive me away, but it's not going to happen. If your mother comes…"

"When," Regina corrected, not quite able to keep the fear from her voice.

"When," Ruby acknowledged, "I know what happened with Emma before and what she said. Please don't give into the distrust I know you're feeling."

"You really presume to know what I'm feeling?" Regina asked tightly. "You don't know me Miss Lucas. You know nothing…"

Before Regina could finish her sentence, Ruby's lips were on hers. Regina's first instinct was to shove the woman away from her and teach the pushy waitress a lesson about respecting boundaries that she would never forget, but then long fingers softly caressed her face and she felt the first crack in her newly rebuilt walls.

The instant her lips touched Regina's, Ruby instantly felt a peace wash over her that she hadn't felt since before learning she was a werewolf. She knew she was risking every bone in her body by her actions, but she didn't care. Sometimes the only thing that could save a person like Regina Mills was the realization that somebody cared and as Regina relaxed just enough to accept her kiss, Ruby was startled to learn that she actually did care. More than she had expected.

Ruby pulled away first, not wanting to push the emotionally skittish woman and braced herself for a slap. "I'm going to go now," Ruby said slowly, her heart racing and her lips tingling and she wanted nothing more than to return to kissing the former Mayor, but she wasn't a stupid woman. She knew it was best to run off while Regina was still dazed and confused. "I'm going to go to Granny's and tell her I won't be working my shift as I'll be staying with you and then I'll be back."

Still bemused by Ruby's surprisingly tender kiss, Regina just nodded numbly. "You don't have…"

"I'll be back," Ruby interrupted firmly, Unable to help herself, Ruby dared to place her hand once more on Regina's face, marveling at the swirl of emotions in her beautiful dark eyes.

"I'll be back," she reiterated firmly. "You're not alone anymore Regina," she added more softly and then grinned. "Whether you like it or not," and before Regina could form a fantastically sarcastic reply, she turned and left, needing to get to Granny's and back as quickly as possible.

Regina had absolutely no idea what to make of what just happened but as she closed the door behind the departing and surprisingly bossy werewolf, she felt her lips lifting in sincere pleasure and her heart fluttering with the beginning of something she hadn't let herself feel in so very long.


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3

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"Well, well. If it's not the family Charming come to pay me another visit," Regina stated coolly from the doorway, her lips curling at the sheepish expressions on all three faces.

"Yeah," Emma said awkwardly. "I wanted to come and apologize about the other day."

"Is that so? And you needed mommy and daddy along for protection?"

Emma frowned and shifted awkwardly, knowing the woman had every right to be as snarky as she wanted.

"Regina…"

"That's enough Regina," David said moving to stand protectively beside Emma.

Regina scoffed. "Oh please," she mocked, ignoring the faux Prince's posturing.

Emma fought the urge to tell David to back off. "Look, I know I messed up," she admitted. "I believed you at first, I really did, but then I saw what Pongo saw and…"

Regina held up her hand. "Yes Sheriff Swan, I'm aware that you saw me…or who you thought was me. It was a logical assumption to make, although I would have thought that the fact that the device you used was one of Mr. Gold's magical toys might have raised a few flags."

Emma exhaled in relief and then offered a tentative smile, hoping that this meant Regina's walls hadn't been completely thrown back up. "I know, it should have," she acknowledged guiltily, "I was just shocked and I overreacted. I just can't even tell you how really sorry I am. I'm glad you understand."

"Now that that's settled," David spoke up impatiently, "we need your help defeating your mother."

Regina's eyes narrowed and sincerely wished she could transport him past the border. "Hm," she said thoughtfully. "I'm afraid I'm no longer in the redemption business," she said too pleasantly for anyone's peace of mind. "So, good luck and goodbye." Regina stepped back into the house.

"What? Regina wait," Mary Margaret called out before Regina shut the door.

"What is it Snow? I'm busy," she lied.

"Why are you being this way?" Mary Margaret asked quietly. "We said we were sorry."

"No, actually Emma said she was sorry," Regina corrected.

"And I meant it. You said you understood," Emma argued.

"I do understand." Regina said dangerously as she stepped off the porch and approached the bane of her existence, "I understand that your feeble apologies were meant only as a way to get me to help you. Let me assure you that I am no longer anyone's little puppet."

Emma rolled her eyes in frustration. "Oh come on Regina, you know that's…"

"Save your breath Sheriff. I said that I understood how you could believe that I killed Archie and I do. My mother can be very…convincing. I did not, however, say I've forgotten everything else you said."

"Regina, I was upset," Emma winced and tried to explain, hearing the horribly and purposely cruel things she'd thrown at the other woman, playing over and over in her head. "I thought we had started to become friends and then when I saw you kill the kindest man I've ever met, I lost it."

"Yes and that's when you so kindly reminded me that all my efforts to redeem myself for Henry were pointless. So either that's what you truly believe or you were simply going for the jugular. Either way that sort of tarnishes your White Knight reputation doesn't it?" Regina mocked, lips curled in the cruel sneer Emma hadn't seen since before her trip to the Enchanted Forest.

"Damnit Regina, this isn't a joke," David interjected, stepping into Regina's personal space, "Cora is here and we need to stop her before she kills anyone else."

"I very strongly advise you to step back," Regina said with a deadly calmness that had David quickly doing what she ordered.

"I am well aware that my mother is here," she continued stiffly, "but I will deal with her on my own. I don't need your help nor do I have any intention of helping you."

"Is that what Henry would want?" Emma bit out, starting to get angry. She'd all but groveled at the woman's feet for nothing. "You're acting like a child Regina."

Emma swallowed as she saw Regina's fingers twitching and knew she was lucky to still be standing. How had a simple apology gone so wrong?

"Don't you dare speak to me about Henry," Regina hissed. "You convinced him I killed Archie. You've seen to it that he'll never see me as anything other than how that damned book portrayed. You have finally taken _my _son away from me."

"No I haven't," Emma protested earnestly, her chest aching with the pain that was seeping through the rage in Regina's eyes and hating the fact that she was the one who'd caused it this time. "He wants to come see you on the weekends."

What was let of Regina's heart began to crumble into dust and it was all she could manage to keep her emotions firmly under her control.

"The weekends?" she laughed bitterly, forcing the tears from her eyes. "You actually have the audacity to stand there declaring oh so nobly, that I get to see the son that I have loved and raised all alone for ten years only on the weekends and expect me to be grateful?"

Regina cast a disgusted look at Mary Margaret who was, as always, standing with that insipid, 'what do I do' expression on her face before looking back at the second generation of White women to destroy her. She was almost moved by the stricken look on the blonde's face. Almost.

"At least now I see the mother daughter resemblance. Neither one of you can keep a promise worth a damn."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Emma retorted defensive anger warring with regret.

"Your mother swore to keep a promise about my fiancé yet spilled her guts at the first opportunity," Regina replied, sneering at her shamed-faced stepdaughter. "You swore you had no plans to take Henry away from me, yet here we are," she said with a mocking gesture. "I suppose that both of you can now proudly boast to the hypocrites of this town about how you've succeeded in taken away the only people the Evil Queen has ever loved. Maybe they'll throw you a parade."

Emma didn't know whether to scream in frustration or cry with the truth of Regina's words. It seemed that her 'family' was destined to save everyone while doing everything in their power to hurt Regina.

"Regina, please can't we talk about this?"

"No, Sheriff. You've said what you came here to say, so it's time for you and your doting parents to leave. My mother is not here for anyone but me and I'll take care of it. The only thing you need to worry about is protecting Henry."

"But…"

"Now, unless there's something else you plan to arrest me for today, I'll say good day."

This time when Regina went inside, nobody stopped her.

"Jesus, I couldn't have fucked up any more if I'd been trying," Emma said, her eyes stinging as she realized she'd just lost something she hadn't even really known she wanted.

"Emma we all thought she was guilty. She's never given us any reason to trust her."

"She's done everything in her power to prove we can't," David added coldly.

"That's crap," Emma snapped. "We all know that no matter what she's ever done or said Regina loves Henry unconditionally. She was trying so hard to be better for him and I knew...I _KNEW_ she'd never risk that, but when I saw it…"

"You felt betrayed," Mary Margaret finished knowingly.

"Yeah I did and I found the cruelest words I could think of just to hurt her the way I was hurting. What the hell kind of good person does that?"

"A human person," Mary Margaret said sadly, wrapping an arm around her daughter and leading her away from the house.

"Yeah," Emma muttered unconvincingly.

"Well at least we know we can expect her to be working with Cora which means a hell of a lot of trouble is coming," David said with disgust tinged with a barely hidden fear.

"Seriously David?" Emma snapped incredulously. "You don't know that. I think we owe it to her to give her the benefit of the doubt on this one."

Mary Margaret and David shared dubious looks. "You're probably right Emma," Mary Margaret said cautiously, "but you don't know Regina like we do, especially when she believes she no longer has anything to lose."

"I think I have an idea," Emma replied drily, thinking cursing an entire population to a new world, erasing their memories and separating people from their loved ones, not to mention attempted poisoning, were all pretty good clues to the lengths the woman would go to when desperate.

"Alright Emma. We'll follow your lead on this," Mary Margaret said as the trio walked away from the Mayor's mansion, "but we still need to stay on our guard. An angry Regina is dangerous. An angry Regina teaming up with Cora is deadly."

Emma had to agree, but she'd be damned if she'd give up on Regina again.

RQRQRQRQ

A sharp rapping on the passenger window had Regina jumping nearly out of her skin. Logically she knew her mother wouldn't bother with knocking on her car window but still she knew a visit was coming and she wasn't sure she was prepared for it. She had indeed grown weak. Expecting to find yet another townsperson wanting her head on a platter, she was surprised to see Ruby glaring in at her before opening the door and sliding into the passenger seat.

"I don't pick up hitchhikers," Regina greeted, though her tone was oddly devoid of any venom.

"Yeah, well you apparently don't listen either," Ruby said angrily, not caring if she pissed off the perpetually bad-tempered sorceress.

"Is that so?" Regina asked, more amused than irritated by the woman's nerve.

"Yes that's so," Ruby returned mockingly. "I told you I'd be back and when I showed up you were gone. I've been looking for you for hours, not knowing what the hell happened to you. God Regina, I thought Cora had shown up and it scared…" she clamped her mouth shut, not about to reveal any more of her feelings that Regina could use as ammunition.

"You were worried? About me?"

The pure disbelief in Regina's voice nearly broke Ruby's heart. It was painfully sad to know that a woman as strong, independent and inherently deadly as Regina Mills was shocked that someone would worry about her "Well duh," she muttered, knowing Regina wouldn't appreciate any hint of pity.

Regina was totally unprepared for Ruby's admission and had no idea how to respond, so she fell back on the dismissive attitude that had helped her survive for so long. "Miss Lucas…Ruby, we've been over this. I have magic. A lot of it and I've been taking care of myself for a long time. Longer than you know."

"Yeah, well…so?" Ruby muttered, irritated that she had no argument. The irritation vanished almost instantly when she saw the slight lifting of Regina's lips.

It went against everything she'd trained herself to be, but Regina realized she didn't want to hurt Ruby. She shifted in her seat so she was looking into the eyes that were far more innocent than Ruby's life story would have indicated.

"Your persistence confuses me," she said seriously. "I don't like to be confused." Suddenly Regina's mind went blank and her mouth went dry as Ruby's lips lifted in a slow, wide and incredibly sexy smile. It was true that Ruby had no problem showing as much skin as she could get away with, but how had Regina not seen the subtle sensuality that lay beneath the obvious exterior.

"That's good to know," Ruby said and then swallowed hard as Regina's always-penetrating gaze dropped to her lips. She vowed then and there she would not be getting out of the car without kissing Regina Mills again.

"How did you find me?" Regina asked breaking into her thoughts.

Ruby shrugged but kept her eyes on the inscrutable woman next to her. "I just thought of the one place nobody would expect you to be and here you are."

Regina found it oddly amusing that between her former Stepdaughter, her son and the woman who's career it had been to track people who didn't want to be found, only Ruby Lucas could figure out where she was. "I didn't hear that noisy car of yours. Did you walk all the way here from town?"

"Ran, actually," Ruby admitted.

Regina was both surprised and impressed. "But we're miles from town."

"Let's just say distance running and speed aren't that much of a problem for me anymore."

Regina's eyebrows lifted. She was curious despite herself. "Really? Is it a wolf thing?"

"Kind of, though I'm still not sure how. Now stop distracting me," Ruby ordered. "Why did you take off? I told you I was coming back."

"Yes, well people tell me a lot of things, Miss Lucas," Regina retorted, clinging to her bitterness like a life preserver. "Very rarely do they prove to be reliable."

"Is that the reason you're sitting here at the town border?" Ruby asked, having no doubt that Regina was talking about what Emma had said to her. Suddenly Ruby realized the full meaning of finding Regina at Storybrooke's town line and she became very afraid that the woman very few people in town liked or wanted, had had enough.

"You're not planning to cross are you?" She asked anxiously.

Regina smirked before leaning back in her seat and staring out at the Storybrooke sign. "Well telling you would ruin the surprise wouldn't it?"

"Regina, answer me. Why are you here?"

"Just thinking about choices," she replied almost automatically, only briefly wondering why she hadn't transported the suddenly interfering waitress out of her car.

"From before?" Ruby asked carefully, not wanting to push Regina into raising her walls again.

Regina scoffed. "Hardly. What's done is done Miss Lucas and there's really no point in revisiting things that can't be changed. No, I'm thinking about a choice I have very little time to make."

"Which is?"

Regina turned her head to meet the curious eyes. "My mother is here," she said bluntly, "and she's coming for me. If I stay, she will do anything and use anyone she can to get to me. Including my son."

"We won't let her hurt you or Henry," Ruby insisted.

Regina's lips twitched, touched despite herself at the earnest tone. "You really won't be able to stop her Ruby, but that's not the issue. The truth is, if I leave Storybrooke, my mother will have no choice but to come after me and when she crosses the border, she'll most likely lose her magic and no longer be a threat to anyone."

Ruby frowned. She hadn't thought of that but it made sense, she had to admit. If Cora was off chasing her daughter and if she lost her magic, then the hundreds of innocent people living in Storybrooke could finally feel safe. That realization didn't make Ruby as happy as it probably should have. She grimly suspected if the townspeople or even Snow and Charming thought of it, Regina would be shoved over the line so quickly her head would spin and most likely, they'd use her promise of no magic to Henry to make her do it willingly.

"I don't want you go," Ruby stated as her mind continued to play different horrible scenarios.

"For a wolf, your auditory senses seem to be fairly limited," Regina stated, fighting to retain her composure at Ruby's words. "Did you not hear me? If I leave," she repeated slowly as if talking to Henry, "everyone you care about will be safe."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "That attitude doesn't work on me your majesty," Ruby grinned impertinently before turning serious. "Yes I heard you, I just think it's bullshit."

"Oh really," Regina taunted. "And just why is that?"

"First of all, because one of the people I do care about will be in the biggest danger of all," she admitted almost angrily. "Also, if you leave, I'm assuming you won't take Henry." Ruby's heart hurt at the blatant pain that crossed Regina's face before she looked away.

"No, I won't, which is another reason…"

"Regina, think about it," Ruby interrupted. "It's been over twenty four hours since Archie was supposedly murdered. That means your mother has been here for at least a day. If she's truly after you, why hasn't she contacted you?"

Regina knew the answer to that as well as Ruby. Her mother did nothing without a plan. "What's your point Ruby?" she asked tiredly.

"My point is, if your mother is as powerful and as smart as I've heard she is, then she's already discovered the truth about the border, which means she won't risk losing her magic to cross the line. And you know she'll go after Henry to bring you back."

Regina sighed and leaned back against the headrest. "Yes Ruby, I am aware of that and that is one of the reasons I'm not halfway to New York by now."

"What's the other reason?"

Regina didn't look at her but her lips lifted in the arrogant smirk that Ruby hadn't known she'd missed until just now.

"The other reason, my dear, is that while I may be many things, I am not a coward."

Ruby let out a soft sigh of relief. Up until a few months ago, Ruby assumed she would have been just as thrilled as anyone to see the last of the Evil Queen, but now…she couldn't imagine Storybrooke without the haughty, condescending and beautifully vulnerable woman in it.

"No you're not," Ruby agreed, brazenly studying the totally fascinating woman beside her. "You're the strongest woman I've ever met."

"Why are you here Ruby?" Regina asked abruptly, turning to look at the woman watching her so intently. The light from the quarter moon shining through the window caused Ruby's eyes to gleam beautifully and the fanciful part of herself that she rarely acknowledged, thought she could almost see the currently sleeping wolf hiding inside and she found that remarkably arousing.

Ruby planned to offer a smartass reply about having nowhere else to be, but then she caught Regina's suddenly hungry gaze and her heart flipped at the mesmerizing mixture of desire and vulnerability staring back at her.

"Because I want to be," Ruby whispered.

Nearly desperate to escape from whatever tricks Ruby was playing, Regina fell back on one of the most lethal weapons in her arsenal. With a deliberate slowness, she leaned forward and ran a finger slowly down Ruby's jaw. "Oh really? Is that all you want?" she purred seductively, refusing to let the warm softness of Ruby's skin draw her into her own game.

Ruby had no doubt what Regina was doing and had she not been so turned on by the low throaty voice and disappointingly brief contact, she would have laughed at the obvious ruse. "Not by a long shot," she answered honestly.

"I know what you're doing Regina," she continued.

"And just what would that be?" Regina sneered, pulling back and feeling a definitely unwanted pang of rejection.

Ruby grinned at her. "Regina, it was hardly a secret in the other world that the Evil Queen preferred to seduce her prey into her clutches."

"I beg your pardon," Regina said feeling offended by that remark and not entirely sure why.

Ruby rolled her eyes and laughed. "Really Regina? That's the thing that offends you?"

Regina scowled as she waited for the younger woman to stop laughing, though she had to admit, it was a beautiful sound and Ruby's smile was captivating to say the least.

"Are you finished?" Regina asked when the laughter finally stopped.

"I'm sorry," Ruby said wiping her eyes, "but god damn, you just fascinate the hell out of me."

"I'm not in the mood to be made fun of Miss Lucas so perhaps you need to find another way home."

Ruby moved so fast that Regina had no time to react before she found herself being kissed to within an inch of her life. Her hands instantly went to Ruby's strong biceps in response but the thought of pushing away never crossed her mind as she parted her lips, letting Ruby think she had control…for the moment.

_Good God, _Ruby thought reverently as she gave herself over to the heart stopping sensation of kissing Regina Mills. The woman kissed the way she did everything; with a deep passion and thorough sensuality that could send the most powerful kings, fearsome warriors and apparently deadly werewolves to their knees. She groaned as Regina's hands slid slowly up her arms and her tongue slipped hotly between Ruby's lips.

Eventually Ruby needed more. She needed to taste, to scent Regina's soft skin more than she'd ever needed anything. She reluctantly pulled her lips from Regina's, shivering at the groan of protest, only to slide them across her jaw, placing gentle nips along the way and then moving to her neck, where she thrilled at the feel of the pounding pulse beneath the warm skin and Ruby instantly became addicted. There was no perfume to distract her from the indescribable and unique taste that belonged solely to Regina Mills and she knew from that instant on, there would never be anything to compare.

"Jesus Regina, you taste so good," Ruby murmured before once more burying her face in the former Queen's neck.

Regina only briefly considered warning Ruby that she wasn't a wolf snack but then Ruby began to bite and suckle at her neck and that totally erased her ability to speak. Her hands gripped the red tinged hair painfully as Ruby trailed her tongue up the column of her throat before she once more captured her lips.

"This is why your seduction tricks won't work on me," Ruby said breathlessly once she was able break away from Regina's beautiful mouth. "I've wanted you for longer than I can remember." Suddenly afraid she'd left herself wide opened for a lethal Mayor Mills insult, she turned her face away.

Regina swallowed hard, affected more than she would have ever believed possible by the strange young woman's unexpected confession. She placed her fingers on Ruby's chin, turning the pretty face back to hers and then gently stroked her cheek.

"You don't know what you're saying," Regina said far more gently than she probably should have.

"Probably not, but that's never stopped me before," Ruby replied with a shaky smile unable to keep from placing a gentle kiss into Regina's warm palm. She carefully removed the hand, startled to feel the trembling in the fingers that had pulled the hearts out of so many people.

"Regina, I know exactly what I'm saying. I know that trusting people is not something you do, but giving up isn't something that I do. Not when it's something that I truly want."

"Careful dear, you're beginning to sound like me," Regina said, though the smirk was only half hearted this time as she fought to make sense of this woman she barely knew, a woman who had stood by her despite what she'd seen and when she had absolutely no reason to do so.

"If you leave here, I'm coming after you," Ruby said firmly, ignoring the other woman's comment.

Regina's eyes widened at the determination in Ruby's voice. "You can't," she argued more calmly than she felt. "If you step over the border, you'll lose your memories." It caused an ache in her heart knowing what Ruby was willing to do for her.

Ruby shook her head. "Maybe, but if I understand how this curse thing works, we only lose our memories of our Enchanted Forest selves. So I won't be Red anymore. I'll just be Ruby and Ruby remembers you."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're obnoxiously obstinate?" Regina sighed, trying hard to ignore just how very sweet Ruby's words were, especially to someone who'd recently been told she'd always be evil.

"Granny may have mentioned it a time or two," Ruby grinned.

"I'm not leaving town Ruby," Regina reaffirmed. "Even knowing I'm putting everyone at risk…and even knowing my son…Henry doesn't want me, I can't leave."

This time, it was Ruby's turn to cup Regina's face. "Henry will come around after everything settles down and the 'excitement' of the curse breaking finally wears off," she said trying to reassure the dejected mother. "He will remember what an amazing mother you are and I plan to show him, to show everyone, what an incredible woman you truly are. If you'll let me."

"Ruby…" dozens of cruel and heartless rejections ran through Regina's mind. She knew better than anyone the futility of trusting anyone but herself, but as she looked into the painfully expressive eyes watching her with an innocent hopefulness, she couldn't bring herself to say any of them. Her eyes flickered to Ruby's lips and her own began to tingle with the desire to taste them again.

"Perhaps we should go back to my home and discuss things a little further," she said, her voice thick with suggestive promise.

Ruby swallowed the knot that jumped into her throat at the husky tone. Regina Mills could arouse a garden gnome just by talking to it. "Far be it from me to argue with royalty," she replied, her own voice slightly breathless as she and Regina fastened their seatbelts and Regina turned the car around heading back to the town that no longer felt quite so empty.

The End.


End file.
